Tornado damage - March 12, 2006

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Mark Lile and Eric Crump

On Sunday, March 12, 2006, what officials believe were three separate tornadoes ripped through Saline County causing an estimated $12 million in damage and leaving 12 families homeless.
Damage reports were expected to continue coming in through the week of March 13.
For additional news coverage, check the News page of this Web site.

A pair of women sort through debris Monday afternoon at what was left of Salem United Church of Christ in eastern Saline County as the pages of a Bible recovered flutter in the foreground. The church building was among those leveled by what officials believe were at least three tornadoes to hit the county Sunday. The church congregation is coming up on its 125th anniversary in 2008.
(Mark Lile)

The door is ajar. The wall is ajar. And there isn't much else left of a storage building on the Loyd French farm just north of Hardeman after a pummeling by storms Sunday night. French said he didn't see a tornado, but he reported hearing a loud, shrill sound about 9 p.m., and the damage to buildings on his property suggests a tornado may have been the cause.
(Eric Crump)

The home of the Bobby Thomason family in eastern Saline County between Arrow Rock and Saline City was leveled by a tornado Sunday evening, one of three believed to have hit Saline County. Officials were estimating Tuesday that the storms left 12 families without a home and dozens more homes suffered damage.
(Mark Lile)

The home of the Bobby Thomason family in eastern Saline County between Arrow Rock and Saline City was leveled by a tornado Sunday evening, one of three believed to have hit Saline County. Officials were estimating Tuesday that the storms left 12 families without a home and dozens more homes suffered damage.
(Mark Lile)

Among the few things left intact at Salem United Church of Christ was the cornerstone of the building, erected in 1947.
(Mark Lile)

Hymnals and Bibles sit in stacks after being recovered from Salem United Church of Christ.
(Mark Lile)

Part of a piano stands in the rubble left when Salem United Church of Christ was leveled in a tornado Sunday evening.
(Mark Lile)

Congregation members and people who live in the area turned out Monday to help dig through rubble at the destroyed Salem United Church of Christ.
(Mark Lile)

Utility crews work to get power lines and poles back up Monday afternoon along Route AC. Crews from various electric companies and cooperatives were in several locations throughout the southern and eastern portions of the county to restore service.
(Mark Lile and Eric Crump)

This piece of sheet metal was bent around a fence post along a county road near Route AC in eastern Saline County.
(Mark Lile and Eric Crump)

A minivan sits on its side outside a metal pole barn bearing the sign "G&F Dance Barn" along Route AC in eastern Saline County.
(Mark Lile)

Farm equipment sits exposed after a Sunday storm blew the roof off and knocked down the walls of a machine shed at the John Imhoff Jr. farm about six miles south of Arrow Rock.
(Eric Crump)

Several pieces of lumber were forced through the wall of a storage building on the John Imhoff Jr. property during Sunday's tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
(Eric Crump)

This roof was blown off a storage building on the John Imhoff Jr. farm during Sunday's round of tornadoes.
(Eric Crump)

Large pieces of sheet metal were left twisted high in trees on the John Imhoff Jr. property.
(Eric Crump)

This metal outbuilding on the Loyd French farm about a half mile north of Hardeman was one of several destroyed during Sunday's storms.
(Eric Crump)

Sheet metal pieces in trees, fence rows or strewn across fields was a common sight in eastern and southern parts of the county Monday.
(Eric Crump)

This metal building on the farm of Steve Jones about a quarter mile east of Hardeman R-10 School was one of many around the county damaged or destroyed.
(Eric Crump)